RZA Performs With James Blake at Coachella, Collabs With Artist David Choe

We’re still recovering from two weekends in a row of wilding out in the desert of Palm Springs—gotta admit it’s really hard to get back to work right now. Even though our Coachella timelines were mainly full of shaky cellphone vids of the Daft Punk album ad, it didn’t escape us that Wu-Tang clan main man RZA joined James Blake—the London producer who is chill dance music’s man-of-the-moment—on stage on Sunday, April 21 to perform a special version of Blake’s “Take a Fall For Me,” a song that Blake has said reminded him of Wu-Tang when he made it. RZA even pulled a lucky babe out of the crowd to rap to amidst the fog and Blake’s romantic future bass sounds.

We checked online and RZA’s lyrics are both romantic and leftfield spiritual, with lines about the the elohim and poltergeists mixed with British words and him offering “Candlelight dinners of fish and chips with vinegar.” Melding highbrow and street style in true Wu-Tang fashion!

RZA has long been one of the most open-minded dudes in hip-hop—he’s a true Renaissance man, whether collaborating with director Jim Jarmusch or hard rockers System of a Down or writing his own books and movies. Back in December 2012, he collaborated with Scion and artist David Choe to create a limited-edition art print (sold in an edition of 13). We sold these at our Gift Show at the Scion AV Installation space (along with products from Blek Le Rat, French, and way more), and the proceeds benefitting Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in New York City. Alongside the Abbott of Wu-Tang Clan, the Gift Show was also attended by Russ Karablin from SSUR, Willie Toledo, photographers Angela Boatwright and Estaval Oriol and many more movers and shakers from LA and beyond.